Leaving in 20 hours

Tuesday, 13 Feb 2007 | Journal

Preparing for the trip to the north east has been a breeze so far. The school has already been informed about the plan and are expecting me. I’ve been briefed on what to expect and don’t really feel comfortable with all the attention I’ll be getting, but most of all look forward to seeing those kids.

This afternoon I went ‘shopping’ and got pens, pencils and notepads for the kids over 5 years old. They get those notepads from school usually, but these are cute with cartoons and little drawings inside. For the highest grades, I picked notepads that have a ‘calculator’ on the back … a very nifty set of tables where they can look up how much 4x8 is and what not. I had never seen that before and thought it was fun. I also got some balls for the boys to play soccer and girls play volleyball. For the small kids I got some VCD’s with educational cartoons and 100 small balls to play with. This is for nursery aged kids, 2-3 years on average. It was quite a sight to see all those balls in a shopping cart and especially the kids shopping and their mothers (!) were looking at me! These toys, plus lunch will be my birthday present for the 200 kids.

I will not be flying back, the event I wanted to attend got cancelled and so there is no need for me to spend my money on this. The budget of 450 euro still looks doable by the way, of course this is in part based on guestimates of ‘experts’ who keep changing what they feel certain things would cost. Welcome to Thailand!

Tomorrow evening I will leave for Kalasin by minibus. This is more flexible than a bus. I will be staying at the Rimpao Hotel and will try my best to keep you all posted on the web. Photos will appear afterwards.

And on a final note … my mother has decided to join Natalie in her support for this, for which I am of course very thankful. (my mistake, I misinterpreted something)